September 19, 2009 - 7:21am
Very naive question about rice flour
Hope this won't get me banned.
People often recommend to use rice flour as the coating for a banetton - the rice flour is supposed to have a different texture, acting as "ball bearings"
I know this is THE most naive question ever asked, but.... is it a special kind of rice flour? The bags I see at my grocery store say "fine ground" and of course, I cannot touch it through the plastic, but they don't seem any coarser than regular all purpose flour. Should I look for another product, or is this it?
also, I found brown rice flour - would that work too?
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there are only dumb answers.
no, rice flour is rice flour. the only difference ordinarily would be whether it's organic or not
yes, brown rice flour works just as well, difference being it hasn't been polished and the bran is still on. brown rice has greater nutritive value than white because of that.
incidentally, rice flour also makes a great thickener for sauces, gravies, etc., since it's virtually tasteless and doesn't break down on reheating, like cornstarch does.
Hope this helps.
Stan Ginsberg
www.nybakers.com
That was all I needed to know, now I can buy the stuff without worries, I intend to try it on my next sourdough boule
gotta keep the yeasts multiplying!
I agree entirely (especially about the Q's and A's! Heheheh!)
However, on my last rice-flour shopping excursion, I found "Namisato" brand rice flour which is useable for baking bread *without* the addition of any wheat flour!
It has 'gluten' added and, I suppose, that's probably derived from wheat (although the package doesn't clearly say so.)
The 100% rice flour (commonly recommended for a Brotform) feels 'gritty', the same as cornstarch and you can actually sense that, even through the packaging.
Best, Elagins and SallyBR,
copyu
here in england I can only see "ground rice". is that the same?
I get my rice flour from our local 'bulk barn' and it works perfectly in my banneton. I thought, by just looking at it, that it was identical in texture to my Robin Hood flour. I just gave in the pinch and rub test and copyu is correct - the rice flour is slightly courser.
I had thought it wasn't the 'ball bearing' affect as much as the rice flour doesn't absorb into the rising loaf and make it sticky...